Philippine specialty foods take center stage at US exhibit

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine firms sold a record $44 million in specialty food products at a trade show in the US last month, the Department of Trade and Industry said.

The country’s delegation to the Winter Fancy Food Show (WFFS) also attracted 540 inquiries regarding their products and businesses from US investors in the West Coast.

“Given the warm reception of social enterprises and their specialty food products in the WFFS, Food Philippines looks forward to the continued promotion of specialty food products,” said Rosvi Gaetos, executive director of the Center for International Trade, Expositions and Missions (CITEM).

CITEM is the export promotions arm of DTI.

Trade Commissioner Nicanor Bautista said the Philippine delegation was composed of 17 home-grown manufacturers that offer products ranging from processed fruits, frozen and canned tuna, ethnic food, condiments, sauces and mixes and snacks.

Their buyers, the DTI said, were looking mostly for natural, organic, fair trade, and healthy products which all packaged to international standards.

As such, the agency said best-selling items included virgin coconut oil, coconut sugar, frozen tuna, banana chips, frozen saba, organic muscovado sugar, upland rice and jasponica rice, and sea salts.

Gaetos, for his part, assured local firms that CITEM will continue to explore opportunities for their products and services to be showcased before foreign investors abroad.

“We are also considering a participation in the Summer Fancy Food Show to sustain the impression we have made in WFFS,” he said.

According to the Specialty Food Association, the WFFS is the largest specialty food and beverage show in the West Coast, featuring more than 80,000 products globally.

The show, held January of each year, was said to have gained a “record-breaking attendance” of nearly 20,000 this year. That was up 16 percent from 2015.